I know the way I’m supposed to work. I’ve read the US Army Corp of Engineers manual on ergonomics. Ninety degree angles, good light, good back support. I set up my office chair in the kitchen with my feet up. My shoulder hurts. I can’t focus. I just need to read. One hour passes. Nothing. I’m trying to follow the manual. I stand up and move to the sofa in the dark living room…crumple myself into a ball in the dark. My shoulder stops hurting. I can turn the pages.
On January 15 (not Jan. 8) at 12:30 pm, I’ll be holding a 1.5 hour photography workshop in the Martlet office (SUB B011) focusing on group photography, environmental portraits for news stories, and spot news. I’ll cover how to motivate reluctant subjects, make the most of what you have, and when to lie to get what you want (you’ll have to attend to get the answer). There will be time for hands-on practice, a slideshow, and questions.
No photography experience is required. …
Because I’m a coddled university-aged elitist living in a craft beer mecca, I’ve never tasted Bud Light, but people tell me it’s watery, and in the wake of a 4.8 magnitude earthquake that happened maybe two hours ago, I’ve decided to start stockpiling it.
Standard earthquake preparedness guidelines suggest that you have 4L of water per person per day: two for drinking and two for sanitation. Why not replace that with watered-down beer? Because let me tell you, next time there is a minor tremor, our economy will move from fiat money to booze and cigarettes, and I don’t want…
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert premiered on CBS this week. So far, I love it — along with Colbert’s boundless energy and optimism, which were often (understandably) lost amidst his conservative blowhard persona from The Colbert Report. But rather than consider the host or his performance or the show’s ratings, all of which social/new media have already analyzed to death, I want to pay tribute to the Late Show’s opening credits.
Most late-night openings present a series of quick shots of the hosts running through nighttime street scenes in New York or Los Angeles. Then, they rely on out-of-focus…
When I learned that David Carr died, I was sitting in a red booth eating chocolate cream pie. It was around 10:30 p.m., after my co-workers and I finished watching Interstellar in IMAX — the closest I've ever had to a spiritual experience. We were talking about some scene, and I remember checking my phone, seeing the notification, saying “No!” in an outdoor voice, and laying my phone on the table for the others to read. It didn’t matter that it was from the Guardian.
If journalism is a religion, the New York Times is scripture, and David Carr its…
Or why everybody should just calm down over a warm cup of soup
This year, I was nominated for a John H. McDonald (JHM) award for a story I wrote in August about the UVic Students’ Society re-visiting a ban on military recruiters at a campus career fair. I remember the writing process as exciting, but difficult. The interviews were long, the research was intensive, and I wrote late into the night. Around 4 a.m. …
Hugo Wong
Photographer, writer, videographer (in that order)
